“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

— Aristotle

Throughout history, warrior cultures worldwide — be they the Vikings or Samurai, the Spartans or Masai, the Celts or Mongols, the Knights or Aztecs, the Kshatriya or Apache — upheld behavioral codes that fortified the characters of their members. Their intent practice helped them openly confront the varied contingencies of uncertain life and possible death.

Similarly, students of the International Academy of WingChun (IAW) cultivate Five Virtues culled by our Grandmaster, Sifu Klaus Brand, from his extensive experience to guide your progress. He unveiled them at the IAW-US Instructor Seminar on October 14, 2012 in Berkeley, California. Mapped onto the inner circles of our emblem, they were transmitted as follows: Continue reading →